It might have taken the entire the first quarter, but the Block High School Lady Bears came together for an attack coach Veronica Savage said she hopes her team can maintain throughout the season.

“We had to find each other,” Savage said. “We had one of our guards leave last year (to graduation) and they were kind of all over the place. They knew someone had to step up.”

Block (8-8) pulled away for a 55-29 win over Vidalia Tuesday night, despite struggling to find a rhythm early in the game.

The Lady Vikings (2-5) came out with designed defensive schemes and stuck to them, too. They held the lead twice during the first period, capitalizing on Block’s missed shots.

“The past few days we had some good practices. Probably a couple of the best we have had all year,” Vidalia assistant coach Gary Stewart said. “We found something that really worked for us and we executed it almost to perfection. They exploited the defense, and I was really proud of that.”

Block then found something Savage credited to pure drive.

The Lady Bears broke away for a few easy baskets on steals to open the second quarter, all before Ty’Ren Tise Carter sank two 3-pointers to give her team a double digit lead.

Alliyah Ceasor added another 3 to put Block up 29-15 at the half.

“They just kind of woke up, and I thought ‘Wow, I’m loving this,’” Savage said.

Stewart said as soon as the Lady Bears were able to dance around the half-court press, his team fell apart.

“We kept the pressure a little bit, and they just took advantage of us,” he said. “We tried to overcompensate the defense and we started to slip. There were too many open shots.”

Moving forward, Stewart said he hopes the Lady Vikings can turn their attention to the positives.

Jamya Smith led the efforts for Vidalia with nine points, while Keedy Lutcher added eight.

“I told them to just focus on that first quarter — try to forget about the bad and the negative,” Stewart said. “We have to focus on what we did right, and we have to build our confidence.”

On the other hand, Savage wants her team to focus, too — but for different reasons.

Carter led the Lady Bears with 14 points, including another 3-pointer, and Ceasor added 10. Makayla Mackey came in with nine additional points to round out nine total scorers for Block.

“We would love to make state,” Savage said. “I’m a believer. I know I’ve got the skill, and a lot of folks may not agree. I know my kids, and I know what they are capable of.”

Vidalia (boys) 97, Block 44

Jaquan Wilson and Ray J. Ransom both scored more than 20 points Vidalia High School’s win over Block Tuesday, 97-44.

Wilson led the Vikings with 27 points, while Ransom added 22.

Dorian Davis led the efforts for Block with 23 points.